Police officers from the Security and Intervention Company in the streets of Toulouse.
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Adria Salido
A police commander was sentenced to four suspended prison sentences this Friday in Toulouse.
In March 2019, he had gassed a "yellow vest" in a wheelchair in the face.
The court based itself on the widely distributed video of the facts.
“The video cuts the debate short.
What we see with these images is called violence committed by a police officer ”.
This Friday morning, in front of the Toulouse Criminal Court, the representative of the prosecution relied on a video to ask without batting an eyelid for a suspended prison sentence against the divisional police commander Jean-Marc S., head of the security and intervention company 31 (CSI-31) at the time of the facts.
Without these images, it would have been very difficult to prove the facts.
On March 3, 2019, the day after act 16 of the “yellow vests”, a twenty-five second video circulated on social networks.
We can clearly see Pascal, 55, in a wheelchair following a stroke in 2014 which severely disabled him, following a police officer who has just confiscated ski goggles to protect himself from the clouds of tear gas.
Visibly irritated by the attitude of this man who insists on recovering his property and who sticks it a little too close, the official sprinkles him copiously with tear gas, at the level of the head.
Following the dissemination of these images, the Toulouse prosecutor's office asks the IGPN, the police, to investigate.
After identifying the police officer, viewing the video, questioning the victim and the official, the IGPN concluded that there was serious misconduct.
What moreover earned the commander a reprimand from his hierarchy.
At the same time, the victim's lawyers approached the prefect to request compensation for the damage suffered.
As for the prosecution, he immediately initiated proceedings against the commander, who therefore appeared on Thursday before the courts.
"Self-defense"
After showing the video twice in a row at the hearing, the civil servant, slicked back hair, dressed in his uniform, clings to the bar and delivers his version of the facts: "He did not hesitate to rush on me, forcing me to back down.
I was hit, I was afraid of falling, which justified the use of the aerosol.
I believe I took action to stop the physical assault against me.
It was self-defense ”.
The judge, who listens to him attentively, jumps up: “Sorry, but what we see in the video does not correspond to your statement.
Are you talking about an assault?
We do not have the same notion of the word ”.
Questioned in turn, the victim explains why she insisted on recovering her mask.
"I only have one hand that answers, if I find myself in a cloud of tear gas, I cannot put on the mask and at the same time control the control of my chair, that's why I wanted to keep it on my head ".
The policeman concedes an “I regret”, before again trying to justify his gesture: “I was tired, but lucid.
I reacted legally.
He jostled me three times, I felt myself fall.
"Again, the judge interrupts him:" I can't let you say that, we can see on the video that what you are telling us is false.
"
She adjusts her glasses: “According to the IGPN, the use of tear gas must be done when necessary, in a proportionate manner and with discernment.
And especially not within a meter of a person.
It is also noted that it should be used with great caution with regard to a fragile person.
»« I too found myself inconvenienced.
It was the only way to defend myself, ”retorts the commander.
The tear gas canister: a weapon
Claire Dujardin and Sarah Khoury, the victim's lawyers enter the scene and raise the tone: “We are stunned because if morally he recognizes the reproaches, legally he does not understand.
It is a serious fault, he must show the example ”.
And to ask for a symbolic euro and reimbursement of legal fees.
The representative of the prosecution drives the point home.
“Yes, a tear gas canister is a weapon, there is no debate possible.
No, the wheelchair is not a weapon by destination, just a means of getting around.
The faults are characterized whereas one is entitled to expect from this official a perfect control of his behavior.
She is asking for a suspended prison sentence.
The seated policeman blushed behind his mask.
His lawyer, Laurent Boguet, gets up, swears that he is "not a butcher or a cowboy", that he has "only applied the doctrine" and that for him, "it is not is not a serious fault, but a moderate use of force ”.
The court was not convinced.
Commander Jean-Marc S. was sentenced to four months suspended prison sentence, symbolic 1 euro and 600 euros in legal fees.
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Justice
Yellow vests
Police violence
Toulouse